Patients with chronic bronchitis or other chronic occlusive pulmonary disease (“COPD”) may have reduced lung capacity and/or efficiency due to lung tissue breaking down. For example, in severe chronic pulmonary disease, e.g., emphysema, lung tissue may be damaged or destroyed, reducing the ability of the lung to effectively transfer oxygen. One of the problems with emphysema and like conditions is that the lungs become over-inflated, filling the chest cavity and preventing the patient from being able to inhale effectively.
In severe emphysema cases, lung volume reduction surgery (“LVRS”) has been suggested to improve lung efficiency. LVRS is performed by opening the chest cavity, retracting the ribs, and stapling off and removing a diseased or partially diseased portion of a lung. This may allow the remaining healthier lung tissue to inflate more fully within the chest cavity, thereby increasing lung efficiency. LVRS, however, is an extremely invasive procedure, and exposes the patient to substantial post-operative complications.
Accordingly, apparatus and methods for assisting breathing in patients having COPD and like conditions, possibly avoiding the need for open surgery, would be considered useful.